Firstly, you need to get familiar with your ‘friends’ of the grocery aisle and your ‘enemies’…

Stay away from ‘The Dirty Dozen’

The dirty dozen is a list of the most ‘toxin-rich’ produce you’ll find at your regular grocery store.
If any of your favorite vegetables or fruits is on this list; then you should opt for organic instead (or try my alternative option later in this post).

Potatoes

Apples

Grapes

Strawberries

Celery

Peaches/ nectarines

Spinach

Cucumbers

Cherry tomatoes

Imported snap peas

Sweet bell peppers

Leafy greens

Alternatively, these non-organic fruits and veggies are safe to buy from your local supermarket

Here’s a list of produce that has little to no pesticide exposure. Some of them naturally repel pests, like cabbage and onions. Some of them have thick skins – which are fine to eat once peeled.

Wash your food

No matter if you’re eating organic or not; you should still wash your fresh produce…

And if you don’t have the budget or the time to visit Whole Foods, you might be forced to buy something from the ‘dirty dozen’…

If that’s the case; peel where you can, or wash them thoroughly to try to remove some of the harmful pesticides.

The best way to wash your veggies is to fill up a large bowl with four parts water and one part vinegar and allow your produce to soak for an hour before using it. Then rinse off and enjoy.

Wholesale butchers

Get into the habit of using a wholesale butcher… or at least a local butcher.

Depending on what country you live in; different meats may have been given growth hormones.

So by visiting an independent butcher, you can ask for help choosing meats without the hormones (local butchers are always friendly and willing to help).

If you’re trying to eat clean, don’t ruin the benefits with processed oils

Vegetable oil sounds healthy, but in reality; it couldn’t be further from the truth.

‘Vegetable oil’ is a healthy sounding name marketers use for artificial cooking oils like canola oil, soybean oil, corn or sunflower oil – try to limit your consumption of them as they’re linked to cancer.

Margarine is equally as toxic – natural butter is a far healthier option.

Aqua-Culture is the process of growing fish in a tank… the fish produce Ammonia, Algae, Minerals, and all kinds of other by-products that would otherwise need to be constantly filtered.

But plants thrive on Ammonia, Algae, Minerals and Nitrates!

Everything that fish produce naturally.

If you connect the fish-tank water to the water of the hydroponics system… your plants get an automatic food supply of almost everything they need to grow from the fish water… and in turn… the plants filter the water for the fish.

Since Carol’s EX moved out; she’s been growing her own organic vegetables.

I’m always really surprised by the volume of fresh produce she’s able to grow in such a small space…

It’s a win for me as Carol always gives me a large basket of fresh organic veggie’s to take home whenever I visit.

Apart from the immense savings from growing her own organic veggies and seafood, she saves space in her refrigerator because she only picks what she needs – when she needs it.

Which means less food waste!

Anyone can cheaply and easily set up a homemade Aquaponic system… and grow an abundance of food without hardly any effort at all!

I asked Carol to share her secrets so I could post them here… she agreed, but I could tell by the tone of her reply that she would need to spend a bit of time preparing… So I decided to let her off the hook and found an online expert to share instead.

After hours of research, I discovered:

Aquaponics 4 Idiots – without a doubt, the most comprehensive guide that comes jam-packed with all the step-by-step instructions, secrets and common mistakes to avoid.

You get step-by-step video instructions on how to build your very own homemade Aquaponic system.

Of course, you can skip the aquaponics and grow what you can with a basic herb garden… but unless you have ‘green thumb’ – herb gardens or classic vegetable patches always seem to be a struggle (at least for me anyway).

On the flipside; once aquaponics is set up – everything is on autopilot.

The steps to create an aquaponics setup are so easy, anyone could do it!

Whatever your preference; growing your own organic produce is a great way to offset your grocery bill.

And by keeping clear of the ‘dirty dozen’ at your local supermarket and avoiding unnatural cooking oils; you’re greatly reducing you and your family’s toxin exposure.